Montoya v. Berthana Investment Corp.
Montoya v. Berthana Investment Corp.
Opinion of the Court
Appeal from a summary judgment dismissing the case as to defendant Berthana. Affirmed. No costs awarded.
Plaintiffs son, 11, suffered a kidney injury while skating at defendants Sanders’
Plaintiff says' that under the terms of a lease from Berthana, lessor, to Sanders, lessees, the former permitted the latter to operate the rink, knowing or having reason to know that a wall bench, having an arm rest that protruded slightly beyond the bench itself, which in turn was situate on a platform above the floor, was an obvious and dangerous instrumentality that rendered the lessor liable for injuries sustained by patrons of the rink operators. These were allegations, — not p^oof. By employing the discovery process under the rules, by affidavit and interrogatories directed to each party by the other, there developed a clear departure from pleading and proof, that precipitated no genuine issue of fact, but one of law based on the evidence submitted by both parties before trial.
Plaintiff appended pictures of the chair or bench to the record in this case for the first time on appeal. Nonetheless, assuming they had been a part of this record, they negate any claim of a known dangerous instrumentality on the part of the lessor Berthana. We have taken a look-see at these pictures, albeit we did not have to, and they do not reflect any similarity to a latent and incipient nuisance that could impose liability on a lessor that might be an exception to the general principles anent a lessor’s liability to his tenant or the latter’s patron. The chair or bench was there for anybody to see. The facts in Larson v. Calder
There seems to be some sort of inconsistency in this case in that the injury con-cededly occurred on December 14, 1966, but the lease upon which the parties seem to rely was dated January 1, 1967, two weeks later. It is of no consequence to Berthana, however, in light of our decision here, but the chronology of events is pointed out so that the record, if necessary, might be corrected by the remaining litigants.
At this juncture, the case has to do only with the question of a lessor’s liability under the unrefuted facts developed by the discovery process. We do not venture even a guess as to the rights and obligations of the others in this case, which still is pending.
. See Dupler v. Yates, 10 Utah 2d 251, 351 P.2d 624 (1960).
. 54 Utah 325, 180 P. 599 (1919).
. Reams v. Taylor, 31 Utah 288, 87 P. 1089, 8 L.R.A.,N.S., 870 (1906); Wilson v. Woodruff, 65 Utah 118, 235 P. 368, 43 A.L.R. 1269 (1925).
. 19 Utah 2d 292, 431 P.2d 126 (1967).
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Jose F. MONTOYA, and v. BERTHANA INVESTMENT CORPORATION, Inc., and Robert E. Sanders and Shirley M. Sanders, husband and wife, and
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published